For years, much of the rural EMS system has relied on volunteers to staff their ambulance and first-responder emergency services. But the volunteer pool is shrinking and today’s EMS services are feeling the loss.

What’s happening to our volunteers? It’s a combination of a number of factors. Becoming a volunteer paramedic is a commitment that requires time, energy and money – three premiums that are getting harder to find due to changing, social, economic and demographic changes.

First, many of our current volunteers are from an earlier generation – a time when people’s loyalty...